Thesis Format Guide –BSCS

This guide has been prepared to help graduate students prepare their research papers and
theses for acceptance by Women University Multan. The regulations contained within
have been updated and, in some cases, clarified for the benefit of students.

This Format Guide is concerned solely with the format of the manuscripts. It is the
responsibility of the graduate student and the student advisor to make certain that any
thesis, dissertation, or research paper submitted in partial fulfillment of a graduate degree
at Women University Multan conforms to the regulations outlined in this guide.
Responsibility for the content of any manuscript remains with the student and the faculty
advisor(s).

Theses / Documents failing to conform these guidelines will not be accepted!

THESIS ORGANIZATION
A typical thesis consists of three main parts – preliminaries, text and supplementaries.
Each part of the thesis is to be organized as shown below:
1. Blank page (required)
2. Thesis submission and approval forms
 Thesis approval form- project supervisor topic approval form
(required)
 Project proposal submission form (required)
 Thesis submission form (required)
3. Preliminaries: Should have the following sections
 Title page
 Dedications
 Acknowledgments
 Declaration of originality
 Copyrights Statement Page
 Table of Contents
 List of Figures
 List of Tables
 Abstract (
 List of Abbreviations and Symbols Used (optional)
 Glossary

4. Text (required; organized as chapters)

5. Supplementaries
  References (required)
 Appendices (optional)
o Authored Appendices
o Electronic Supplementary Material (if needed)
o Use of Copyrighted Material (if needed)

GENERAL GUIDELINES
For writing and typesetting the thesis, the use of editing software such as Microsoft®
Word or LATEX is highly recommended. Some general requirements for thesis writing are
given below.
 Language: The thesis should be written in English.
 Spellings: Either American or British spellings are acceptable. However, the
author(s) should be consistent in their choice of spellings throughout the thesis. It
is recommended to perform automated or manual spellings check and correct any
spellings errors before submission of the thesis.
 Font: The author(s) should use Times New Roman Font throughout the thesis.
Mono-spaced fonts can be used for presenting computer codes or when required
for small segments of text.
 Text color: The thesis should be written in black text on white paper. Text color
changes can be used for highlighting. Such changes should, however, be kept to a
minimum.
 Use of Bold Fonts: The authors should not use bold fonts unless explicitly stated
in the formatting guidelines or when required in lists or for highlighting purposes.
 Placement of Page Numbers: The page numbers are to be placed at least 0.5
inches (1.3cm) from the bottom of the page and should be center-aligned
horizontally. The page numbers should have a font size of 10.
 Headings Case: All headings in the thesis should be in title case. According to
the Chicago Manual of Style, the rules for title case are defined as under:
o Only the first letter of the first and last words in the title is always
capitalized
o Always capitalize only the first letter of the following: nouns (man, bus,
book, etc.), adjectives (beautiful, smart, etc.), verbs (run, eat, etc.), adverbs
(slowly, quickly, etc.), pronouns (he, she, it), subordinate conjunctions (as,
because, that)
o Do not capitalize any letter of the following: articles (a, an, the),
coordinate conjunctions (and, or, but, nor), prepositions of fewer than five
letters (on, at, to, from, by, etc.)

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.

Working with Long Documents

It is also recommended that you familiarize yourself with some of the more intensive
features of Microsoft Word. Go to the help menu and in the contents section look for
“Working with Long Documents” to learn about features that could make the writing of
your thesis faster and easier.

Paper Quality
Good quality (80g or 100% cotton paper), white, unlined, non-punched, 9” x11.5”, i.e. A-
4 paper must be used for the original copy.

Number of copies
In all four copies of the thesis are required, one for the student, one for the student
advisor, one library copy and one copy for departmental records. It is the students’
responsibility to submit three copies to the department office for distribution to the above
mentioned recipients, before graduation.

Basic Format Guidelines

Margins
For copying and binding purposes, every page of your thesis must be kept within the
following:

Top: 1” Right: 1” Bottom: 1” Left 1.5”

To insure that the margins are correct:

In Microsoft Word (in Page Setup) use the following settings to insure that the margins
are correct:
Top = 1.1” Right = 0.8”
Bottom = 0.8” Footer = 0.2” Left = 1”, Gutter = 0.3”, Gutter Position = Left
Margins must be left justified. All manuscript materials must fit within these margin
requirements (including tables, headers and footers, figures, graphs and page numbers).
When full-page prints of photographs are desired, the image area of the print must
conform to the same margins as the text.

Spacing
The thesis, including the abstract, dedication, acknowledgements, and introduction, must
use a line spacing of 1.5. Footnotes, bibliographies, long quoted passages, as well as
items in lists, tables, and appendices may be single-spaced if that style is recommended
by the committee chair. Your thesis must be printed on one side of the paper.

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Pagination
Each page of the entire manuscript, except the title page and the approval page, must be
numbered. The title and approval pages are understood to be as preliminary pages i &

ii.The numbering of the pages should be done at the bottom center of each page leaving
at least a 1” margin at bottom.
There are to be no headings to the left or right of the page number. See margins above.
The placement of page numbers must be consistent throughout the manuscript. Pages
should be numbered sequentially throughout the manuscript. Preliminary pages are
numbered as follows:
 The Title Page is counted as page i (assumed, do not print number)
 The Approval Page is counted as page ii (assumed, do not print number)
 The remaining preliminary pages are numbered with lower case Roman numerals
(iii, iv, v, vi, etc). After the title page and approval page, begin numbering the
next page with iii.
 The main body of the text and the reference section are consecutively numbered
with Arabic numerals beginning page “1” and continuing throughout, including
text, illustrative materials, bibliography, and appendices.

NOTE: Manuscripts with incorrect page numbering will not be accepted.

Font Size
Any legible font, except script, italic, or ornamental fonts, is acceptable for the body of
the text. The chosen font should be used throughout. Standard font size for text is 12 (no
font smaller than 10 will be accepted). Arial, Times New Roman, Helvetica and Century
Gothic are recommended. Italics may be used for quotations and words in a foreign
language. Fonts used for appendices, charts, drawings, graphs, and tables may differ from
the text. The print should be letter quality with black characters that are clear and easy
to read.

Photographs and Other Illustrative Material

Because illustrative material must fit within the specified margins, it is sometimes
necessary to use smaller type or make reduced copies. A wide illustration must be placed
broadside on the page, with the top toward the binding side. Be consistent in placing page
numbers on illustrative material, and remember that all tables (or figures) must be labeled
with a number and caption.
Labels or symbols rather than colors should identify lines on a graph whenever possible.
If there are many different types of illustrative materials, label them all as figures and

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number them consecutively in Arabic numerals (1, 2, 3...) or they may be identified and
numbered within each category.

Quoting References
Format and placement of reference citations should be consistent throughout the thesis.
IEEE referencing format is the prescribed at the end of document for use. Reference
should be cited in Arabic numerals enclosed in square brackets (e.g., [1]) in the order in
which they appear in the thesis.

Preliminary documents details

Title Page
The title page provides a basic introduction to your research. The title for your work
should be a meaningful description of your manuscript and include key words that can be
used by modern retrieval systems. Use word substitutes, formulas, and symbols. The
page must also bear the full name of the candidate, AU registration number, degree for
which the thesis is being submitted and the name of the Department/Institute/Faculty and
year. Do not put a number on the title page. See sample in Appendix I

Approval Page
The title page will be followed by an approval page, which will be signed by the
members of the guidance and examination committee (GEC), including the external
examiner, at the time of dissertation defense. Do not put a number on the title page.
Dedication and/or Acknowledgements
These pages are optional. If included, they must be numbered with Roman numerals.

Table of Contents
A table of contents is required and may follow any format acceptable to your advisor and
committee. Be sure to include all main divisions and subdivisions within your text and
1.5 spacing. These pages are to be numbered with Roman numerals (bottom, center of
page). If Dedication or Acknowledgements are not included, this will be the first
numbered page: iii. Only pages that come after the Table of Contents are listed.

List of Tables
They should follow the same format as table of contents, but should be given on a
separate page.

List of Illustrations or Figures

Follow the format used for your Table of Contents. Use a separate page for each type of
list. Use appropriate Roman numerals. Make sure to use 1.5 spacing between entries.

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Abstract
An abstract of not more than 250 words is required. It is to be a succinct description of
your work and should be organized.

Text Section
You and your committee determine the quality and content of your text. Starting with
page 1, the numbering must run consecutively throughout, in Arabic numerals.
Text includes the introduction or preface (if any) and the main body of the manuscript
(use of well-defined divisions, such as parts, chapters or sections is recommended).

Text of the thesis

The guidelines for the main body or text of the thesis are given below.

Pagination
Each chapter in the thesis should start on a new page. All pages in the body of the text
must be numbered in sequence in Arabic numerals.

Organization in chapters
The text of the thesis should be organized in to chapters with each chapter beginning on a
separate page.

Chapter Titles
The name of each chapter (henceforth called chapter title) should be printed prominently
at the top of the page. The exact format for the chapter title is left to the discretion of the
author(s). However, the chosen style should be consistent throughout the thesis , the
chapter titles are written in right aligned form at the start of the chapter together with the
chapter number in bold font of size 20 points. The text of the chapter starts at least 72
points below the end of the chapter heading.

Chapter blocks
The headings of the different blocks of a chapter (Section, sub-section and sub-sub-
section) should be written in a justified aligned format with bold font of sizes 16, 14 and
12, respectively. Deeper levels of nesting beyond sub-sub-section should be avoided.
Each block should be numbered based on the chapter number. For example, subsection 3
of section 2 in chapter one should be numbered as 1.2.3.

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Paragraph line spacing
The body of text within a block of a chapter should be written in normal font with 1.5
line spacing.

Paragraph indentation
The first line of the first paragraph in a block should not have any indentation. The
remaining paragraphs should, however, be indented by 0.5 inches from the left.

Footnotes
Footnotes may be placed at the bottom left of the page with a font size of 8. Footnotes
may be separated from the main text on the page by a line.

Running Title
Running title may appear in the top right corner with chapter number and name in font of
size 10. No header should appear on the first page of the chapter.

Supplementary Documents
 The “Notes” page follows the final chapter (if this format is used)
 Appendixes
 Glossary, or list of abbreviations (if applicable)
 Bibliography: The bibliography, used primarily in the regular format, lists sources
used--not necessarily every one, but those considered relevant. If the bibliography
is longer than two pages, classify it and divide it into sections, according to the
type of sources (books, documents, journals, interviews) or periods of time.

A blank page should be included at the beginning and end of the manuscript

Binding and Submission

The original and two good quality photocopies are to be submitted to the university. Soft
bindings are preferable for initial submission and evaluation by the GEC.

Hard bound copies should be submitted after incorporating the suggested changes and
corrections.

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Title
There are two title pages: Margins for the title pages should be atleast 1.5” for right, left,
top and bottom respectively.
 The binding title
 Inner title
The binding title should contain the full title of the thesis, the full name and registration
number of the candidate, AU monogram, the name of the department, college/institute
and university, followed by the year of graduation printed in golden. (Appendix III)
The Inner title is the first printed page in the thesis (leave one blank page in the
beginning).

Color

In order to keep the theses well organized and uniform, the covers/bindings of theses
should have the following colors:

BS Navy Blue

Text on the binding should be in golden color.

Spine
The spine of the bound thesis should bear the students’ name, name of department and
year of graduation in golden color.

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 REFERENCES (USE THIS STYLE FOR REFERENCES)

[1] W. Strunk, E. B. White, R. Angell, Elements of Style, Fourth Edition, Longman

Publishing, Ithaca, N.Y., 1999.

[2] A. Author, “Article in Conference Proceedings,” Title of Conference Proceedings,

City, State, Month, Year.

[3] Author if any, Web Page Title, referenced: Month date, year.

References use the ThesisCitation style. Pay close attention to consistency in all
references. You can use any style but be consistent. Check out journal and conference
reference formats in your area.
 Either include the full author name or abbreviate first initials – everywhere. For
first author, consider whether you will give last name first – do this everywhere. I
prefer first initial first then last name.
 Put article titles in quotes e.g. “Title of Article,” underline book titles, and
italicize titles of conference proceedings and journals. Capitalize all main words
of the title, not words like a or the or and unless they are the first word.
 Include publisher for books. Include page numbers for journal or conference
papers – this goes last, e.g., pp. 282-323.
 the grad school wants to see references single spaced even though the thesis
should be double spaced